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OF 



Yazoo Bounty, 



-MVIISSISSIPPI.-^ 



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OFFICIAL INFORMATION 



RESPECTING 



Yazoo County, l^ississippi. 



BY THE 



New Orleans Eiposition Eoniinissioi!. 



W. C. Craig, Chairman. 
W. A. Henry, Secretary. 



YAZOO CITY, MISSISSIPPI 
October, 1884. 



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YAZOO COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI. 

• — -1--^- — • 

VAZOO COUNTY is situated about 
1 fifty miles south-westward from 
the geographical center of the State, 
and is one of the largest counties of 
the State. The face of the county is 
divided into two general classes, viz., 
the upland or hill country, and the 
bottom — the two portions being nearly 
equal in geographical extent. The 
former is a common rolling or gently 
undulating region, with no high or un- 
tillable hills. The latter is a flat delta 
region, being a part of the great Ya- 
zoo Bottom, which is itself a portion 
of the great Mississippi Delta, extend- 
ing from Cairo, Illinois, to the Gulf. 
These two regions are divided by a 



4 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



range of bluffs running nearly north 
and south, at the base of which flows 
the beautiful Yazoo River. The pop- 
ulation of the county is about thirty- 
five thousand — ten thousand whites and 
twenty-five thousand colored. 

SOIL AND PRODUCTION. 

The soil of the upland region will 
compare well with the better classes of 
agricultural lands in Tennessee, Ken- 
tucky, Illinois, and such countries. It 
is all well watered by numerous creeks 
flowing into Big Black River on the 
east and the Yazoo in the center. It 
has no stony, swamp, or otherwise waste 
land. Its productiveness is above the 
average of upland generally in and 
near this latitude. It is all susceptible 
of a high product by judicious man- 
agement. The bottom is all not only 
rich but unsurpassed in fertility by any 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



laod on the continent. As to the vari- 
ous products of which it is susceptible, 
we need not go into particulars. It 
produces every thing suited to its lati- 
tude, and in the greatest abundance. 
Two bales of cotton or forty bushels of 
corn to the acre are easily produced un- 
der good cultu re. Its capabilities have 
never been tested. Much less than 
this is the general result, for the rea- 
son that land being so abundant and 
cheap — there being so much more land 
than labor in the country — our farmers 
always undertake to cultivate too much 
land. Hence, the real productive ca- 
pacity of our land, especially the bot- 
tom land, has never been tested. An 
intelligent writer, living in a distant 
State, says: "The Yazoo Delta is the 
most productive soil in the world." 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



INCREASE OF PRODUCTS. 

With all the disadvantages under 
which our people have labored in the 
last few years, the census reports show 
that our increase in the products of the 
soil have been far greater than we our- 
selves supposed. 

"Mississippi: Its Climate, Soil, Pro- 
ductions, and Agricultural Capabilities, 
by A. B. Hurt," is a pamphlet made 
from the United States Census, and pub- 
lished under the auspices of the Agricult- 
ural Department. From this we make 
room for a very few facts. From 1870 
to 1880 Mississippi increased her prod- 
uct of corn thirty-six per cent. ; cotton, 
seventy per cent. ; oats, nearly four 
hundred per cent. ; tobacco, nearly 
six hundred per cent. ; orchard prod- 
ucts, over four hundred per cent. ; 
sweet potatoes, over one hundred per 
cent. ; hay, seven per cent. Hay is the 



Yazoo County, Mississippi, f 7 

only article .in which we have'^not in- 
creased in a ratio far exceeding the aver- 
age in the North and West ; and yet Ya- 
zoo county, especially the bottom land, 
is one of the very best hay regions in 
the United States. Native, unculti- 
vated grass grows sometimes from six 
to eight feet high, and so thick that a 
mower with two good mules can scarce- 
ly handle it. We have no doubt if 
this table of increase of products were 
made up for Yazoo county alone, it 
would show much higher figures than 
the above. We have certainly one of 
the most improving counties in the 
United States. 

LIVE STOCK. 

This little pamphlet does not afford 

room for particulars, nor do we deem 

it necessary to go into details. We 

know of no better stock country than 



8 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



Yazoo county. Indigenous grasses 
grow in great abundance. Hogs live 
well in the woods the year round with 
little or no feeding. Stock cattle and 
sheep need no feeding except in winter 
for a short time. 

COMPARATIVE VALUE OF LAND 
AND CROPS. 

From the same official statistics al- 
luded to above we learn that the aver- 
age value of products annually per 
acre in Mississippi is $12.21; in Illi- 
nois it is $7.81; in Indiana, $8.23; in 
Iowa, $6.85; and about the same fig- 
ures in other Northern and Western 
States. But a still greater disparity is 
seen in favor of Mississippi when we 
look at the comparative value of the 
lands on which these products are 
grown. In Mississippi the average 
value is $17.79; in Illinois, $38.65; in 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 9 

Indiana, $45.66 ; in Iowa, $23.52. On 
these figures Mr. Hurt very properly 
remarks: "It appears from the above 
that the market value of lands in Mis- 
sissippi bears no just proportion to their 
intrinsic value. There is too much 
land for the population and capital. 
Land that will average a money value 
iroduct of $12.21 per acre should av- 
eiage a market value of at least $50 
} er acre, and especially in such a tem- 
perate and healthy country." The 
above figures relate to the whole State; 
but it should be noted that this is 
not a fair estimate for Yazoo county. 
Here the average value of product per 
acre is considerably above that of the 
whole State, while the average market 
value of land is less. 

To recapitulate this important item : 
The average market value of land in 

the States of Illinois, Indiana, and 
1* 



10 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



Iowa is $35.94 per acre, and the aver- 
age annual value of the product per 
acre on the same is $7 63 ; while the 
average market value of farm land in 
Mississippi is $17.79, and the average 
yield per acre yearly is $12.21. In 
other words, $35.94 worth of land in 
those Western States produces annu- 
ally only $7.63, while in Mississippi 
$17.79 worth of land produces an an- 
nual crop worth $12.21. Or, to vary 
the statement again, land in those 
S,tat<'s cost more than double the price 
in Mississippi, and they produce a lit- 
tle over half as much as here. Such 
disparity is surprising. But for the 
official reports, it would be almost in- 
ctedible. The man in the West with 
double the money invested as in Mis- 
sissippi gets an income of very little over 
half the amount as here. Money invest- 
ed here yields, therefore, nearly four 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 11 



times as much as there, with certainly 
no advantage there on th^ score of cli- 
mate, health, etc. The product in Yazoo 
is much above that of the whole State. 
Open land in the upland portion of 
the county, with plenty of timbered land 
thrown in, can be bought for about 
four to ten dollars per acre. In the 
bottom about from twenty to forty dol- 
lars, more or less, according to improve- 
ments. In the bottom, land rents for 
about five to eight dollars per acre; in 
the hill country, for about half as 
much. Land in the bottom generally 
produces, in cotton, forty dollars per 
acre; with good tillage would produce 
nearly or quite double as much. There 
is probably no better fruit country in 
the United States than right here. We 
could sustain this remark well by de- 
tails if we had room and deemed it 
necessary. 



12 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



HEALTH STATISTICS. 

From the same official source we have 
some death-rate figures, the benefit of 
which we are entitled to. The annual 
death rate for each 1,000 inhabitants 
in several States is as follow^s: In Mas- 
sachusetts, 18.59 ; in New York, 17.83; 
Virginia, 16.32; Indiana, 15.77; Tex- 
as, 15.33 ; Kansas, 15.22 ; Pennsylvania, 
14.92; Illinois, 14.60; Kentucky, 14.39; 
Alabama, 14.20; Georgia, 13.96; Colo- 
rado, 13.01, AND IX Mississippi, 12.89. 
Misinformation sometimes makes Mis- 
sissippi an unhealthy State, but official 
facts do not. The average annual death 
rate per thousand in all the above- 
named States is 15.33; in Mississippi, 
12.89. Yazoo county is about an av- 
erage. We have a greater number of 
cases of sickness here than in those 
States, but they are of short duration, 
easily controlled, and seldom fatal. 



Yazoo County, Misslssippi. 13 



TIMBER. 

It is not probable that there is a 
county in the United States better sup- 
plied with all kinds of valuable timber 
than Yazoo. Mechanics, recently here 
from the North and West, express sur- 
prise at the immense quantities of val- 
uable timber they find here. To enu- 
merate and describe it would more 
than fill our pamphlet. In red gum^ 
cypress, various kinds of oak, beech, 
hickory, etc., we have almost semi- 
national wealth standing in the forest. 
We have on exhibition a few speci- 
mens, to which we invite your attention. 
Our most valuable timber is the cy- 
press, red gum, and the various kinds 
of oaks. Cypress grows here in very 
large quantities, and equal in size to 
that in any other location. The red 
gum has but recently come into notice 
by lumber men and mechanics who 



T4 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



handle fine wood- work. It takes on a 
finer polish than black walnut, and for 
fine work has no superior on the conti- 
nent. The various kinds of oak are 
too well known among timber-workers 
to need particulars. They are all here 
in abundance. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Beyond an oil-mill, a few saw-mills, 
and occasionally the building or re- 
pair of a small steam-boat, we have 
very little manufacturing in the coun- 
ty. There is a large opening here for 
enterprise in this field of industry. 
We know of no place where the man- 
ufacture of cotton and woolen cloth, 
furniture, wagons, buggies, agricultural 
implements, brooms, cooperage, tin- 
ware, wooden-ware, pottery, and the 
like, would do better than in Yazoo 
City. All these articles are brough 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 15 



from a distance, where material is not 
so good or plentiful as here. A dozen 
saw-mills on the Yazoo River and elsen 
where would do well. We invite man- 
ufacturers who may be looking for a 
new location to visit Yazoo City and 
look round. : > 

RAILROADS AND NAVIGATION. 

We are not well supplied with rail- 
road facilities. The New Orleans and 
Chicago road passes through the east- 
ern border of the county, with a branch 
from Jackson to Yazoo City, passing 
three other stations in this county, viz., 
Bentonia, Anding, and Valley. It is. 
to extend north-westwardly through the 
great bottom to connect with roads ; 
west of the Mississippi. Several other 
roads are projected in and near thjf 
county, and likely to be built shortly^ 

Qur facilities for navigation are. -ex- 



16 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



celleiit. The Yazoo is navigable all 
the year. It is one of the best rivers 
of its size in the world. Then we have 
Silver Creek, Panther Creek, Tokeby 
Bayou, Lakes George and Tilby, and 
Wolf Lake, affording navigation part 
of the time, and all connecting with the 
Yazoo. No part of the county is re- 
mote from market, 

TOWNS IN YAZOO. 

Yazoo City, on the left bank of the 
Yazoo Kiver, nearly in the center of 
the county, is the principal town. It 
contains about three thousand inhabit- 
ants, is the county-seat and the chief 
center of the commerce of the county. 
It has more commerce than almost any 
other town of its size. The other towns 
are Satartia, on the river thirty miles 
below; Benton is the old county-seat, 
ten miles back ; Bentonia, Anding, and 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 17 



Valley are new, thriviDg towns recently 
sprung up on the Yazoo and Jackson 
Kailroad; Dover, Vaughan's Station, 
Deasonville, Palmetto Home, Free 
Kun, and Silver City are thriving 
country villages. 

GAME AND FISH. 

Large game is nearly all driven out 
of the county, though turkeys are in 
places somewhat numerous, and occa- 
sionally a few straggling deer are found. 
Ducks, squirrels, rabbits, partridges, 
and coons are sufficiently abundant. 

Fish of various kinds are plentiful. 
The Yazoo and all the lakes, bayous, 
and creeks emptying into it are fine 
fishing waters. Big Black River fur- 
nishes fishing for those living near the 
eastern border. 

LAND IN CULTIVATION. 

About one-sixth part of the land in 



18 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



the couDty is or has been in cultivation. 
A considerable amount of land is lying 
vacant for lack of labor and fencing. 
Some of it is in bad condition, and can 
be bought cheap and improved. There 
is no worn-out land in the county. 
Yazoo produces about fifty thousand 
bales of cotton annually, which is the 
largest yield of any county in the State 
except Washington, which lies wholly 
in the bottom. 

LABOB. 
A large amount of the farm labor here- 
abouts since the war has been and still 
is by sharing the crop between the land- 
lord and the laborer. Under this sys- 
tem the land, team, and implements are 
furnished by the owner and the labor 
by the laborer, and they share equally 
in the product. Good field-labor can 
be hired for about tw^elve dollars a 
month, with bread and meat rations. 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 19 



Those who have teams prefer to rent 

land. 

OVERFLOW. 

This question pertains to the bottom 
land. For some causes not well known 
we have had more deep overflow in the 
last three years than for thirty or forty 
years previously. We must wait the 
development of the future. But we 
have learned that overflow is by no 
means the clear disadvantage that many 
suppose. The United States has taken 
hold of this subject in the way of im- 
proving navigation, and the general 
impression seems to be that the time is 
not distant when the annual freshets 
will be confined to the great river. Ex- 
cept the last three years, the damaging 
floods have occurred on an average of 
about once in ten years. The question 
of damage from overflow depends very 
much on the condition of the planta- 



20 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



tion and the preparation made for high 
water. Heretofore the water has not 
failed to subside in time for a crop. 
The overflow itself is a very great ad- 
vantage to crops and vegetation of all 
kinds. The periods of overflow have 
by no means been the poorest crop 
years in this region. 

A person not familiar with these landsi 
and the way they are handled, seeing 
them in February or March presenting 
the appearance of a lake, with a look 
of desolation, would be surprised in 
sixty or ninety days to see the same 
land covered with a luxuriant growth 
of cotton and corn, promising a bale 
and a half or two bales or forty bush- 
els to the acre. No cultivated land is 
free from injury by redundant water. 
This operates diflferently in the alluvial 
bottom and upland or creek or ordinary 
river bottoms. And taking a series of 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 21 



years — say ten years — we do not think 
the aggregate of injury from redundant 
water has been greater, all in all, in the 
bottom than in the hill country. Heavy 
summer rains never seriously injure 
crops in the bottom. 

WATER FOR DOMESTIC USE. 

Both portions of this county — hill 
and bottom — are well supplied with 
water for stock. The hill-country is 
pretty well supplied with springs; and 
when these are not at hand, good drink- 
ing-water is generally found at a depth 
of twenty-five to forty feet. Of course 
there are no good springs in the bottom, 
or not many. A few have been found 
under the bank of the river and lakes, 
but generally they are not good. Until 
late years it was thought that good drink- 
ing-water was not to be had in the bot- 
tom except by cisterns ; but later experi- 
ence demonstrates that by sinking wells 



22 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



a little deeper very excellent water is to 
be had in abundance. Water is now 
generally procured in the bottom by 
sinking iron pipes thirty or forty feet 
in the ground. In this way good water 
is procured anywhere in the bottom. 
Our physicians, who have been long 
practicing medicine in the bottom, rep- 
resent great improvement in health 
since the more general introductio 
wells. 

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. 
Education is reasonably well cared 
for in Yazoo. The public statistics 
show that we have three thousand three 
hundred white children and ten thou- 
sand colored who are legally considered 
educable. Of these there are in actual 
attendance in public schools, according 
to the last report, one thousand five hun. 
dred and forty-eight whites and three 
thousand seven hundred and eighty- 



Yazoo County, Mississippi. 23 



nine colored. These public schools 
are in every neighborhood. Then we 
have private schools wherever needed. 
There are about one hundred and thir- 
ty public schools. 

CHURCHES. 

A statistical account of our churches 
would not probably be very useful, nor 
have we room for it. It may suffice to 
say that church facilities are good in 
every part of the county. The towns 
are all well supplied, and at other 
points where needed churches of the 
various denominations are at hand. 
There are eight churches in Yazoo City, 

SOCIAL CONDITION. 

We have not been free, in all time 
past, from social disturbances; but, 
after comparing ourselves in this re- 
spect with other countries around us, 
we are not able to see that we have 



24 Yazoo County, Mississippi. 



suffered more than our proportion of 
these public misfortunes. We have got 
along with outlaws and criminals as 
best we could, and have probably been 
as successful, on the whole, as the citi- 
zens in other places have been. The 
law has always been in force here, and 
outbreaks have been subdued as soon 
as the law could operate. Our citizens 
are quiet and law-abiding. A consider- 
able portion of our people, both white 
and colored, have come in since the 
war. Those who came for industry and 
peaceful citizenship are doing well. 
Nobody moves away from Yazoo on 
accountof any thing objectionable in the 
community. Persons desiring to settle 
among us will find a good, Christian 
community, good neighbors, good and 
cheap land, good health, good employ- 
ment, and good and quiet homes. Come 
and see us. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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014 541 948 7 i 

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